Lyft is giving out scholarships for a new self-driving car degree program

Lyft wants to create a world filled with self-driving cars, so the ride-hailing company will help the next generation of developers get the education they need to build it.

Online education platform Udacity is rolling out a new Lyft-sponsored “Intro to Self-Driving Cars” Nanodegree program. The four-month course will cost $800 — but Lyft will award full scholarships to 400 qualified students to study topics like machine learning, object-oriented programming, and probabilistic robotics.

The scholarships will be used to promote diversity within the applicant pool. Lyft and Udacity will aim to award students from communities that are "underrepresented in technology in the US," according to a blog post about the program.

The scholarship program is open for 18-year-old U.S. residents with some programming experience, since the course will cover both Python and C++. Graduates are guaranteed admission to Udacity's Self-Driving Car Engineer program, which provides a more thorough schooling on the ins and outs of a career focused on creating autonomous systems.

Lyft also said it will offer "mentorship opportunities" for participants of the program, and promises that top graduates will have career opportunities with the company following the completion of their studies.

This is a savvy move for the Lyft, which announced its own driverless car development program earlier this year. Ten percent of the company's engineers are already focusing on autonomous tech, and the Udacity programs could help to create a pipeline of talent to Lyft's Level 5 Engineering Center in Palo Alto.

You can apply for the scholarship starting today, with the entry period closing on Oct. 1. Winners will be announced on Oct. 5. If you can pony up the $800 and want to enroll in the course, the deadline is Oct. 10.

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